Exploring Electronic Social Networking

Someone invited me to be their “friend” on Facebook. It may have already happened to you too. Many of you accepted the invitation and joined them on this social networking site. A few of you out there may be resisting the invitation. If you are, I’m pretty confident you’re over 40.

The capacity for electronic social networking today is HUGE. Chat rooms, texting, MySpace, Facebook, blogs, and don’t forget the aging out email and email lists, through computer or cell phone, young people, in particular, are in a constant stream of communication with a cloud of people they know in varying degrees of intimacy. The contacts can be tiny, just a few characters on a miniature screen, but each message reinforces the feeling of being connected to another person.

After a couple of months on Facebook, I’ve got over 100 friends. Some are old buddies from Newark High School. Some are relatives. Some are members of my congregation. Most are Unitarian Universalist ministers I know. A few I have no idea who they are, but I’ve friended them anyway since we have people we know in common.

What this allows me to now do is get a status update from all these people about what they are doing right now. I can read notes they post. I can look at their videos and pictures.

Reading what people are currently doing has an interesting effect. Even though the activity post was not to me personally, it makes me feel connected to that person, even if I haven’t seen or heard from that person in years.

What is really nice is being able to exchange personal emails with my real friends without getting ANY spam. Yes, I can get spammish gifts and chain notes that ask me to respond to a bunch of questions or mark the (many) books I haven’t read. But these are very easy to ignore and don’t clog my IN box.

My worry of course is that I only have so much time every day and adding one more thing to the burden of email I’ve got to keep up with as well as attending to members of my congregation, ministers in the community I’m working with, may mean I spend even less time with my family. I really don’t need to spend more time sitting in front of a computer.

Yet, it is enjoyable to maintain my connections with the many people who occupy my heart. If you are one of those people on facebook, I’ll be happy to friend you so we can establish a slender connection to let you know I value being part of your life too.

I’m wondering if I’m the new friend you mentioned. I’m new to Facebook and am still exploring its capabilities, which do indeed appear limitless. As a mystery novelist, I’m especially interested in reaching out to people who might enjoy my books, but I can see how social networks like Facebook can be addictive and consume enormous amounts of time.

Sam, are you involved with MySpace as well? I’ve heard Facebook is attracting more of us who are 40+, but I’d be interested in knowing why.